We left Malaga and rolled into Torremolinos. Our first thing we do once we get somewhere is scope out for a camp spot. Once we have that accomplished we sit down at a cafe and have ourselves a coffee or beer to relax after our ride.
Torremolinos has kind of a boring boardwalk except for the sand art. A sand artist made extravagant art pieces all along the boardwalk. One was of the town that lights up at night with tea light candles. It also had salt sprinkled on top to give it a snowy look. Another piece was Elvis Presley in a convertible car. The boardwalk also had rainbow flags to indicate gay bars, which I've never seen that in Spain anywhere. I thought that was great to see that they except gay pride especially in this town. The town was pretty quiet though. We didn't do any busking or selling of wears here. We just camped in our spot in a nature reserve park by the beach. It was a beautiful spot but we got ate by mosquitoes and quickly learned tis the season.
We headed off to Fuengirola going up and down hills. The ride was pretty but on a busy road. Lots of hotels, theme parks, and sport bars up until Fuengirola. The beaches in between were full of parties and college kids all crazy n drunk everywhere. We didn't take the time to stop. It was gaudy. Too many tourists, too many buskers, and too many Africans selling shoes n purses.
Once we headed into Fuengirola, we found a quiet spot in the beach and dunked into the ocean. Still cold and breathtaking. We strolled the boardwalk and checked out the town. Cute place. Giant pedestrian boardwalk with restaurants behind on the other side of the street. The town has purple flowers on the trees all in blossom. Plaza's snuck in here and there with lots of alley way bars. We camped in a ravine full of trees and wildflowers which was in between expensive housing. If only they knew we were there.
We found a fine dining restaurant with a casual patio that was in a tiny courtyard. Joe and Chris played a set of music and rocked their worlds. The owner loved it. We all received drinks and they got a nice tip. She said they are welcome any time to come back and play.
The next day we rode through downtown and happen to see the Semana Santa (Easter) parade. They had the wagons all done up and the beautiful attire to go with it. One of the wagons carried a shrine of Jesus that was led by a ox. As the parade passed by, the lady's covered the streets in flower pedals. Happy we strolled upon it. While we were venturing around we came across a water fill station right next to a little tiny shrine house. It was so cute! People would come up to it and say a prayer and walk away. What a gem.
In the evening we went back to check out the restaurant but the patio was empty. We sat there and had cafés. The owner picked up the tab and invited us to come inside. They had live music with a lady singer and a guy playing piano. It was funny cause we were dressed all casual and the restaurant was super fancy inside with a dress code. The owner had Chris sing a couple of songs with the pianist. The whole place was booked out for a woman turning 70. All the ladies loved Chris and definitely hitting up Joe. So funny. We were served any drink of our choice on the house. Everyone loved all of us in the end except the waitresses. They didn't like us being inside for we didn't have the right attire. The owner however treated us like royals.
We played Fuengirola's Rastro (Flea Market) on Sunday. We set up in one of the rounds by the Africans selling their shoes. We had a huge crowd around us loving the music and checking out the gypsy suitcase. A local girl came up and sang a song along with Joe and Chris playing along. It was amazing! She said she was shaking afterwards cause she's never sang out loud in the streets before in her hometown. She sounded great. She sings in a Jazz club in town. She definitely made our day as we made hers.
